Scannal - The Xpenses Factor

"I know he likes racing - It isn't a sin to like the races" Mary O'Rourke -Iar-Theachta Dála le FF

On 13th October 2009, John O'Donoghue TD became the first Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann to be forced out of office due to an expenses scandal. Expenses claimed by TDs and government ministers had long been looked at with a jaundiced eye by the general public and the media - so what was so exceptional about O'Donoghue's? And why did his travel record force him to resign?

Any Minister's expenses could be deemed as lavish and some would say that O'Donoghue was unfortunate to be made a scapegoat. Ken Foxe, a journalist with The Sunday Tribune, decided to look for details of O'Donoghue's travel expenses while he was Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism through the Freedom of Information Act. Once the details of O'Donoghue's expenses were published - the genie was out of the bottle. His travels included a six-day trip to Cannes in 2006 which set the taxpayer back nearly €50,000.

1st class travel, 5 star hotels, limousine hire and Michelin-starred dining were all part of a culture of entitlement that existed - the other "parliamentary privilege". Between 2005 and 2008 there were more than 15 members of the Oireachtas who had cleared over €300,000 in expenses tax-free, and it wasn't only Government deputies who benefited from the gravy train.

John O'Donoghue's downfall became inevitable when the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore did the unthinkable. After an embarrasing standoff he threw the first stone in a house full of cut crystal! He declared no confidence in the Ceann Comhairle. Ironically he had recovered from a very rocky start as Ceann Comhairle to be widely acknowledged as having acted fairly and done a good job in the role of chair. But even in this context his growing appreciation for the Office of Ceann Comhairle coincided with the luxurious refurbishment of the CC's offices.

More than just the car, the salary, the staff and the office, O'Donoghue's resignation meant that he gave up another privilege - automatic re-election to the next Dáil and in his final speech as Ceann Comhairle he showed a proud but wounded man stating "only the people of South Kerry have the right to exclude me from political life". They subsequently did just that and decided not return him as a TD for South Kerry in the recent General Election.

"I know he likes racing - It isn't a sin to like the races" Mary O'Rourke -Iar-Theachta Dála le FF